Amy and Jake are away at Granny’s for a few days. I am at home, ostensibly working, in my little garret in the loft. The sun was out earlier. I put a load of washing in the machine and afterwards put the clothes out to dry. Now it has started raining(to coincide with the Bank …
Author Archives: jmwollny
Todays Commute
Gorgeous morning, sunny but cool with no wind. I left early at around 6.15am. I did my fastest ever commute. It’s amazing what a fews days rest will do. The knees are still clicking and also a little twingey. I will book up a session at a physiotherapist. Hopefully I will just have to exercise …
Still Summer
Last week the weathermen forecast that the summer was over. Well judging by the hot warm weekend we have just enjoyed, they got it spectacularly wrong again, which is great! On Saturday we went to Bluewater. Jake chose a nice blue dress for his baby sister, her first dress no less. He is very excited …
First commute with new wheel
The new wheel, cassette and chain feel great. In fact my average speed has improved by nearly 1 mph. It just goes to show what a little TLC can do! I do like the nice clicking sound now with the Deore hub. The wheel feels very solid and it soaked up the potholes of South-East …
Setting up the rear derailleur
I spent yesterday evening finishing off the bike service. The first job was to adjust the brake pads front and rear. This was easy. The gears however were a different story. At least they were until I looked up on the internet how to do it. After that everything was plain sailing. On the derailleur …
Jake and basketball
We were in the garden yesterday on a fine sunny day. Jake had retrieved his basketball from the shed and was telling me about the game, that it has a hoop and that you have to throw the ball through the basket, which is high up on a pole. Me: “Where did you hear about …
Bike Repairs
Okay, I’ve just spent two hours cleaning my bike, installing the new cassette and then putting on the new chain. Most of the time was spent degreasing the rear derailleur and chainset which were in an awful state. The actual process of fitting the new cassette, wheel and chain were very easy. I’ve also fitted …
Muggy and hot, where’s the wind?
It’s been hot and humid for two days now. I noticed this when I was on my way out of the office yesterday. Upon leaving the cloistered confines of air-conditioned niceness I was enveloped by muggy, hot, humid air. At Richmond station I bought some Lucozade Sport drink as my legs felt tired from the …
Goodies
I have just had a splurge. Not really a splurge but a shopping list of essential items for my bicycle in order to fix my broken wheel. The total cost is £167 which includes : New M:Wheel Shimano Deore/Mavic A319 rear wheel New HG50 11-32 8 speed rear cassette ‘stack’ New Shimano HG50 chain Lifeline …
Buckled wheel
I was cycling through Clapham Common the other day and felt a big pop as though something had either snapped or someone had thrown something at my rear wheel. I stopped to investigate but couldn’t find anything amiss. A while later I heard a strange noise emanating from the rear wheel. I looked down as …